Bloggings On Nurse And Allied Health Immigration

As readers of the MU Healthcare Immigration Law Blog surely are aware, the FSBPT recently enacted a policy that bars graduates of Philippine, Egyptian, Indian, and Pakistani schools from sitting for and taking the National Physical Exam until 2011. This policy was enacted in July 12, 2010 and was formulated after analysis by the NPTE uncovered replication of actual test questions.

Ultimately the FSBPT is beholden to its stakeholders, the 50 State Boards of Physical Therapy. One such State Board, California, has just sent the FSBPT a strongly-worded letter, which sets an October 1 deadline for the FSBPT to rescind their discriminatory policy or suspend the NPTE for all test-takers. A copy of this letter is available on the MU website.

At the FSBPT's annual meeting in late October, it will more fully outline its plans for the future of the NPTE to their membership and to their stakeholders. This dialogue has already begun and may result in an amended policy in advance of the annual meeting.

The FSBPT's aims are valid. Test takers who cheat should be penalized before sitting for NPTE. In some instances, the penalty should be an outright prohibition against taking the exam.

While the FSBPT's aim is valid, their remedy is imperfect. MU lawyers Chris Musillo and Cindy Unkenholt have been working with employers, recruiters, physical therapists, immigration lawyers, and other industry leaders with the goal of remedying or modifying the policy, which we believe violates both federal and state discrimination laws.

In order to make sure that your State Board is part of this dialog, please urge your State Board to make their opinion known to the FSBPT.

Cindy J. Unkelholt is one of the two Co-Managing Partners of Musillo Unkenholt. Cindy's practice is concentrated on business immigration matters, including healthcare and physician issues. She also works with a range of clients in engineering, information technology, and recruiting. Prior to starting MU, Cindy was a partner at a large Midwestern immigration law firm.

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ILW.COM.